Field
The present disclosure relates generally to weatherproof boxes, and more particularly to push to connect weatherproof boxes.
Description of the Related Art
Buildings including commercial and residential buildings often use common electrical components such as electrical outlets and ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) outlets for connecting to a 120v, 240v or similar wiring in a building. These components are often enclosed in standard sized electrical boxes mounted in walls, floors and ceilings that meet certain government or industry standards codes. In certain applications such as outdoor applications, it is also desirable to use weatherproof boxes and may further be desirable to provide such weatherproof electrical boxes for use with electrical wire conduit such as EMT or Rigid conduit.
Weatherproof conduit fittings are generally separate devices that are mounted in a standard casting knockout hole in an electrical box. For example, a standard electrical box may have a simple knockout or plug in an opening that may be removed. A traditional conduit fitting would be a separate device that has a mechanism such as a threaded nut and washer for securing the conduit fitting into whichever box a worker decides to install it in. Such conduit fittings tend to be relatively tall as they protrude from the electrical box and tend to have angled surfaces such as external nut corners that may snag on wires, etc. Additionally, such standard electrical boxes may not be sufficiently structurally stable around knockout holes to accommodate the installation and any other forces that may be transferred from the tall, protruding shape of the separate conduit fitting. Accordingly, there can be issues with form, fit and function as the two devices may not have been specifically designed and built to work with each other. Additionally, there may be structural integrity problems with regard to using traditional conduit fittings in a traditional electrical box opening. Such traditional fittings may also accommodate only one diameter of conduit. Moreover, there may be issues relating to installation and use problems of traditional conduit fittings due to the relatively large height and non-smooth surface of the traditional conduit fittings. Furthermore, installing a separate conduit fitting in an electrical box such as by using a nut and washer incurs relatively high labor costs and requires additional logistics for additional parts. For example, FIG. 16 shows a traditional separate conduit fitting system 1 including a traditional electrical box 2 with ordinary cutout 3, a separate conduit fitting 4 and a conduit 8, thereby illustrating some of the disadvantages associated with traditional systems.
Accordingly, there is a need, among other needs, for an easy to use weatherproof electrical box that provides one or more of greater structural integrity, less likelihood of snag, a lower profile, a more aesthetic appearance, accommodation for multiple diameter conduits and that requires less than traditional installation time.